The National Park Service reported an $11.9 billion backlog of deferred maintenance for 2015. This is a $440 million increase from 2014. The deferred maintenance includes work on roads, bridges, structures and recreational facilities which is necessary for the parks to continue functioning but which has been delayed for more than one year. As resources dwindle and park usage increases, the amount of deferred maintenance only grows.

This year, Congress provided the National Park Service with an additional $90 million for non-transportation maintenance and $28 million for transportation projects; transportation-related maintenance and construction funding is intended to grow by $8 million every year, until being capped at a total of $300 million per year in 2020. These funds will be used to address the most pressing deferred maintenance issues first.

“We have a lot yet to do but I think everything is moving in the right direction,” Jonathan B. Jarvis, director, National Park Service, said optimistically. “Congress has pitched in with base funding and with additional funds for the Centennial Challenge — a program that enables us to leverage private and non-private partner contributions to complete important projects that improve visitor services in parks. There is more Congress can do through the Centennial Act now under consideration including short-term mandatory appropriations.”